ANKARA, Turkey – J.D. Bergman (Columbus, Ohio/New York AC) won a bronze medal at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. on the final day of the Yasar Dogu International on Sunday.

Bergman, a member of the 2010 U.S. World Team, went an impressive 4-1 for the day. His only loss came in a very close semifinal match against 2010 World champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan, 1-0, 0-1, 0-1.

In the bronze-medal match, Bergman defeated Radoslaw Baran of Poland, 1-1, 1-0. Baran was a 2010 World Military bronze medalist, and has competed for Poland at the Senior World Championships three times.

Bergman opened with victories over Gokhan Yavaser of Turkey, Kamil Skaskiewicz of Poland and Kenan Gor of Turkey.

Gazyumov went on to win the gold medal, defeating Azerbaijan teammate Sharif Sharifov in the finals by forfeit. Sharifov was a 2011 World champion at 84 kg/185 lbs.

"J.D. wrestled real tough and got the short end of a 'gift' call in the semifinals against Gazyumov. After winning the first period 1-0, he was inexplicably called for passivity at the end of the second period to force the third and decisive period,” said U.S. coach Jason Kutz.

Two other U.S. wrestlers competed on Sunday at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Going 0-2 for the day was Phillip Simpson (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army). Dropping his only match was 2009 World Team member Dustin Schlatter (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm).

The U.S. finished fifth in the team standings. Host Turkey brought home the team title.

“Overall, we wrestled well technically but gave up too many strategic and tactical points late in the periods. We will have to fix this area and continue to work on lead management,” said Kutz.

YASAR DOGU INTERNATIONAL
At Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 12

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold – Mustafa Kaya (Turkey)
Silver – Yakup Gor (Turkey)
Bronze – Jabrayl Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Meysam Nasiri (Iran)
5th – Bekozy Mukhtar (Kazakhstan)
5th – Samat Omarov (Kazakhstan)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold – Khetag Gazyumov (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – J.D. Bergman (USA)
Bronze - Faruk Akkoyun (Turkey)
5th – Ali Ashghar Abdolmaleki (Iran)
5th – Georgi Sredkov (Bulgaria)

U.S. men's freestyle results on Sunday

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Phillip Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army), dnp
LOSS Mustafa Kaya (Turkey), 1-0, 0-3, pin
LOSS Mukhtar Bekozy (Kazakhstan), 0-2, 4-5

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Dustin Schlatter, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), dnp
LOSS Yusuf Benekli (Turkey), 1-0, 0-1, 0-1

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC), 3rd
WIN Gokhan Yavaser (Turkey), fft.
WIN Kamil Skaskiewicz (Poland)
WIN Kenan Gor (Turkey)
LOSS Khetag Gazyumov (Azerbaijan), 1-0, 0-1, 0-1
WIN Radoslaw Baran (Poland), 1-1, 1-0

Team standings
1. Turkey, 64
2. Iran, 44
3. Azerbaijan, 36
4. Kazakhstan, 30
5. United States, 19